They All Tell A Different Story
by banned from the 40 watt
Summary: A transcript of footage recovered from a siege that occurred during the Battle of Vale. Varying viewpoints, kinda AU.
1. Chapter 1

They All Tell A Different Story

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Welcome back, Colonel Sumner. Would you like to pick up back where you left off?

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The last document you viewed were the transcripts of The Siege of Moonshine Ridge. Would you like to start from the beginning again?

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The following document is a transcript of the helmet cams worn by the 87th Division. The 87th Division was a division of the Atlesian army where various troublemakers, semi unfit for duty(see Operation Fairness for more details about why these men where kept) and recruits where sent to a bunker close to the border with the Grimm wildlands. They were amongst the front lines when the Grimm invaded Vale after the events at the Vytal Festival transpired, and heavy casualties were reported. The original tapes recovered are now unfortunately too worn down to be viewed, hence the transcripts. The events start roughly half an hour before the Grimm breached the perimeter gates. Swearing has been censored in a drive to make these archives less distressing.

[[Helmet cam of Pvt. Flansburgh]]

[[The Private is on a lift descending downwards, trying to turn on his helmet cam]]

Flansburgh: -is thing on?

[[He takes his helmet off to inspect it.]]

Flansburgh: Red light's blinking, that's always a good sign.

[[He puts it back on.]]

Flansburgh: Yeah, no s*it Flansburgh, the red light's on.

[[The lift comes to a complete stop, making a gruesome crunching noise as it does. The doors flicker to life and a man is standing just by the door, looking like he was waiting for the Private.]]

?: You Private Flansburgh?

[[The man is Lt. A. Stills, aged 42, once a highly decorated marksman, credited with over 112 Grimm kills, before an accident in his company's canteen destroyed his left retina and he was forced to choose a desk job or be put in 87th Division.]]

Flansburgh: Lieutenant Stills, sir?

Stills: Please, call me Andy.

Flansburgh: …Okay then Andy. What do you want me to do then Andy?

Stills: Well, first, I'd better introduce you to our motley crew.

Flansburgh: Of course, sir. Good suggestion.

[[Stills chuckles.]]

Flansburgh: …Sir?

Stills: Nah, it's just this unwritten rule we have down here, no a*skissing. Gets you nowhere down here. Forget what they drilled into your head in Boot Camp, and just chill, y'know? C'mon, down here.

[[Stills leads Flansburgh down the main corridor of the bunker. The corridor is dimly lit and full of dust. Flansburgh bursts into big coughing fits at various points.]]

Stills: To your left is the restrooms, avoid the one with the busted lightbulb-

Flansburgh: Why?

Stills: Reasons. You don't need to know. To your right is the dorms, we'll try and get a cot out for you while we order a bed from the glorious, luscious High Command. And here…

[[He opens a big grey door to the bunker's recreational room. From left, Lance Corporal M. McGuinn, 27, reclining on the green armchair Corp. S. Watt, 31 standing near a shelving unit, and just in view, Pvt. J. Taggart, 45, lying on the couch.]

Stills: The rec room.

Taggart: F*ck, fresh meat.

McGuinn: Sure is Taggart. Now c'mon, it's been less than 90 days, fork it over.

Taggart: Has it really? I doubt it, highly.

McGuinn: F*ck man, don't start with your 'time defence' bulls*it.

Taggart: All I'm saying, is that we really have no credible way of proving how many days it's been, that's all.

Watt: We do, it's called a clock.

Taggart: Shaddup, Watt!

McGuinn: C'mon, Chief, help me out here, you know what he's like!

[[Stills rests his forehead in his hands.]]

Stills: I'm your CO, not your mother. You're big boys, do it yourself. Anyway, this is the new meat you sick basta*ds have been placing bets on, John Flansburgh.

McGuinn: Welcome to the shithole, Flansy! Where dreams come down to die!

[[Stills shoots him a death stare that silences him.]]

Stills: The loudmouth slouching on the armchair is our heavy weapons guy, Mike McGuinn.

[[He gets up from his activities to greet Flansburgh. He easily towers over him, at least a foot. It's said that Private Flansburgh was 6'2. He sticks out a hand.]]

McGuinn: How ya doin' Flans?

Flansburgh: Uh, yeah, pretty good, thanks.

McGuinn: Just do yaself a favour and ignore ol' Taggart over there. He's just your regular friendly cynical ars*hole.

[[Taggart raises McGuinn his middle finger, which has been blurred out on the film.]]

Taggart: F*ck you, Beefcake!

[[After a second of careful consideration…]]

Flansburgh: I think I'm gonna take your advice there.

McGuinn: Wise choice lad.

Stills: The uh, cynical asshole as the good corporal put it, is Jack Taggart, our demo guy.

Taggart: Yeah, don't forget it cupcake, I got enough explosives here to level you ten times over!

Stills: Y'know, it's because of that attitude that keeps the key to the locker outta your hands and you down the ranks.

Taggart: No, it's prolly 'cause I'm in the 87th Division, the home of screw ups and the green dudes. And besides-

[[The distinct sound of an incoming transmission is heard from the dorm room, which, due to space limitations in the bunker, was housed in the dorm room.]]

?: Yo, Stills, live transmission from HQ!

[[The voice is believed to have belonged to Staff Sargent N. Connelly, who acted as the communication man for Lt. Stills' squad. However, the audio is heavily distorted as a result of the incoming transmission.]]

Stills: (K)eep o(n) hold f(or) as long as p(ossible)!

Connelly: Gotcha chi(ef!)

[[Stills walks back to the dorms. A couple of seconds pass before Watt moves over to where Flansburgh is standing aimlessly.]]

Watt: Hey, Fl(ansburgh) you mig(h)t wanna knock t(hat) off-

[[Watt reaches for Flansburgh's cam helmet.]]

Flansburgh: Woah, wh-

[[Recording ended, 9:38 PM]]


	2. Chapter 2

[[There is five minutes of nothingness on Flansburgh's tape, until he turns it back on, presumably accidentally. The helmet is on a coffee table, on a 45 degree angle facing a boxy looking TV on a mount on the upper right corner. Flansburgh and Taggart and talking slightly to the left of the camera. McGuinn is out of view, appearing to fix the TV. Stills is talking, though he is inaudible throughout most of this recording.]]

[[Recording restarted, 9:43 PM]]

Taggart: -so that's when I say to him, 'f*ck you!' an' I swing at him and break nose!

Flansburgh: Uh-huh.

Taggart: 'Course, I couldn't revel in my victory over his tyrannical reign just yet, 'cos his armed guards come down on me like a sack of bricks, beating me with anything they got, billy clubs, broken bottles… hell, even a headstock from a bass from one of the in-house's band!

[[Taggart breaks into maniacal laughter for a good thirty seconds.]]

Flansburgh: …Cool.

Taggart: Damn right. Now, if you'll excuse me-

[[Taggart drunkenly stumbles in and out of frame, then out the door. After 16 seconds, loud retching noises are heard from the corridor.]]

McGuinn: The bloke can't hold his liquor. He brags and brags, but, he's full of sh*t.

[[A couple of seconds pass.]]

Flansburgh: So…

McGuinn: Did he punch out Ironwood? F*ck no. He would've been shoved in a car and drove off a dock.

Flansburgh: Wait, I thought you got court marshalled if you assaulted a superior officer, get put to rest with the fishes.

McGuinn: Not if it's Irond*ck, I'm afraid. Got to keep a good image up after all.

Flansburgh: Remind me never to f*ck around with the High Command.

McGuinn: Duly noted.

[[Stills walks into the room.]]

Stills: Flansburgh! We got ya your first job for the Atlesian army.

Flansburgh: Okay, what?

[[Stills sit down next to him.]]

Stills: As I'm sure you're aware, we're situated underneath 80 feet of concrete and dirt.

Flansburgh: I gathered that sir.

Stills: And since we reside in the middle of Buttf*ck, Nowhere, we usually receive our supplies monthly in a big bulk order.

McGuinn: Only way to order!

Stills: Exactly.

Flansburgh: Can we cut to the point, please?

Stills: Sorry, I ramble too much. We need you to head to the nearest depot in The Beast, and pick up the supplies, and you're a bad enough dude to do so.

Flansburgh: It's really 'cause I'm the new guy, right?

Stills: Well, you're the new mechanic, right? You'd be most qualified to repair the truck when it breaks down.

Flansburgh: When?

McGuinn[[pausing from trying to get a signal]]: The Beast has seen better days.

[[He wasn't lying. According to Pvt. Flansburgh's debriefing, 'The Beast', a heavily worn down armoured delivery truck, was manufactured 65 years ago. To give you some extent of how badly treated it was: 'the gear shift was being held together with duct tape and the engine block was suspended with at least 250 rubber bands. To work the headlights, you had to press an electronic frog thing toy that would make the lights work for thirty seconds at a time.' It was later discovered that the previous mechanic, Sgt. B. Sanderson faked his documents that showed he had a Master's Degree in engineering.

Under the 'Beat on the Faker' protocol he would've been dishonourably discharged, had he not fallen through the lift as it was descending to the ground floor and been crushed when the lift had reached its destination. The repair of the lift's rotten floorboards had been on his to do list.]]

Flansburgh: Well, can't be that bad, right?

Stills: That's the spirit, lad.

[[Flansburgh puts his helmet on and begins to walk out.]]

Flansburgh: Try and record that match for me, would ya?

McGuinn: Predictions? We got a bet pool running.

Flansburgh: Eh, put a 20 on that Nikos girl would ya? Crushing victory, I'm telling you. My wallets on the table. And I know how much is in it, da*nit.

Stills: Relax, we're men of wealth and taste down here.

[[Flansburgh walks past Taggart who has collapsed in a puddle of his own vomit.]]

Flansburgh: You doin' alright Tag?

Taggart: I want my mother…

Flansburgh: … Alrighty then.

McGuinn: We got TV signal!

[[He opens the lift door. The lift travels up 10 feet approximately.]]

Flansburgh: Better knock this thing off, don't wanna be recording 10 miles of dirt-

[[Recording ended, 9:54 PM]]

[[This is the last footage from Private Flansburgh's helmet cam. He was lucky, he was halfway through his journey, when the breach started, and was one of the men who held back the attack at the depot. He broke both his legs when he went down in a collapsing guardtower, after an Ursa had rammed into it. He got a promotion and received two medals. The following footage is instead taken from the rest of Lt. Stills' squad, in varying conditions.]]

[[L. Cpl M. McGuinn]]

[[Footage started at 10:15 PM]]

[[The men are getting changed into their combat gear, alarms are blaring, and everyone is in a state of general panic.]]

Taggart: -an't believe I put down 100 on that ginger chick-

Watt: She just got dismembered on live TV, Taggart!

Taggart: So? She's an android or robot or whatever, they'll have the tech to rebuild her, or somethin' like that-

Stills: Taggart, shut the fuck up. Now listen, we got an unknown number of Grimm about to break down our gate and generally f*ck our sh*t up. We're gonna head up there and and try to avoid that from happening. Now, Mike, I want you up on the tower with that-

[[McGuinn pulls a Minigun from out his locker, and loads a clip into it.]]

Stills: Yeah, that. You're gonna be on crowd control, if it moves and not wearing grey, f*ck it up. Watt, you'll be picking off any stragglers that somehow make it over the ridge and providing backup for Mike.

[[Watt pulls out a bullpup rifle.]]

Stills: Like clockwork! Taggart- the f*ck are you doing?

[[Taggart is drunkenly trying to tear off a steel padlock with a piece of paper Medical examinations show that Private Taggart had ingested 2mg of LSD.]]

Taggart: Trying to get the explosives, jacka*s.

Stills: It's unlocked.

[[Taggart pulls the door open to reveal it stacked high with various types of explosives.]]

Taggart: Oh, how I've missed you. Normal siege protocol?

Stills: Pretty much.

[[Taggart stuffs at least a ton of explosives, a detonator, and a revolver loaded with a single round into a leather rucksack. He sprints out the door and up the elevator.]]

[[Stills]]

[[The rest of the squad make their way through the corridor and Stills calls the lift.]]

McGuinn: Never seen him so enthusiastic about something since we got that sixty year old whisky.

Watt: Has he ever?

Stills: Surprisingly, yes. Comm check.

McGuinn – Check.

Watt – Check.

Taggart [barely audible] – Check!

Stills: Connelly?

Connelly – Yeah, I'm still around!

[[The lift comes down with a dim 'ding'.]]

Watt: Mind the duct tape.

McGuinn: F*ck Sanderson, man.

Stills: I'm surprised we didn't notice it at first.

[[They all remain silent throughout the ride up top. Watt checks that his safety is off. Finally, the lift doors open to reveal fire rising from the general direction of Beacon Academy.]]

McGuinn: Holy f*ck.

Watt: Ditto.

[[Watt]]

[[He turns to the right, to reveal Taggart hastily planting explosives near the main gate and along the lower part of the ridge. The compound was separated into two main sections, the lower section, which housed the gate and fence built into the rock face that separated the Kingdom of Vale from the various wastelands. The motor pool was also located in this section, using a ramp to access the rest of ridge, which could be closed by a gate, and in this footage, Connelly is turning the wheel to lower it. The main gate has been shut in preparation and is visibly starting to show signs of giving away.]]

Stills – Taggart! Hurry up!

Taggart – You wanna come down here and do this?

Stills- No! Jus-, how long is it gonna take?

Taggart - Thirty seconds! When these explosives go off, you'd swear a destroyer had done it!

[[It's at this point that the gates give way and Grimm start pouring in.]]

Taggart: OH, MOTHERFU-

[[Taggart gets headbutted by a Boarbatusk into what appears to be a sharp object, possibly a piece of rebar from the guardtower's supports. In any case, he did get impaled through the chest. It's unknown if he died instantly or if he died later on. Watt rushes behind a barricade, as does McGuinn. Connelly starts making his way back to the main group.]]

Stills – F*ck! Open fire, open fire!

[[He climbs the ladder to the guardtower and starts setting up a 50 caliber rifle he apparently had installed into the tower as a precautionary measure in case this ever happened. McGuinn spools the minigun up and effectively just sprays and prays. Judging from the footage, he did hit quite a number.]]

Watt – Connelly, where are ya, man?

Connelly - I'm coming! This mud ain't easy to- WOAH!

[[McGuinn]]

[[Connelly gets picked up by a large Griffon and fires his pistol at the Grimm wildly. A loud crack is heard from the tower, and the Griffon goes down in one shot, dropping Connelly from a fairly safe distance.]]

Connelly – Thanks, Chief!

Stills - I was aiming for the mouth, but the eye'll do, I guess.

[[Connelly makes his way over to the barricade where Watt and McGuinn are taking cover. Due to having used his only clip, he really does nothing. The firing goes on for another minute or so, until a Nevermore is spotted in the distance.]]

[[Stills]]

Stills – Lads, we got a Nevermore coming fast!

McGuinn – Do we use the explosives?

[[Stills pauses.]]

McGuinn – Do we?!

Stills- Ah, yeah, yeah. Connelly, get down there and blow it.

Connelly -… Yeah. Keep me covered.

Watt – We gotcha, relax.

[[Connelly leaps down onto the lower level, with supporting fire raining down. Stills peers over the railing. Taggart is pierced on a piece of rebar and is without doubt, dead. Connelly takes it from his hands, as the Nevermore crashes through what little was left of the gate from the initial breach.]]

[[Watt]]

Connelly – Sh*t!

[[He pulls the detonator and an almighty explosion occurs. True to Taggart's word, the area looks like it had been bombarded by a destroyer, obliterating the Nevermore and the motor pool. The explosion is that loud that it overloads the microphone in Watt's camera, rendering it useless.]]

[[McGuinn]]

[[Watt is on the ground, recovering from the blast. Pieces of concrete and embedded in his helmet and upper forearm. The footage quality has noticeably gotten worse, with the image freezing and tearing.]]

McGuinn – Lost another!

Stills – F*ck! Sh*t! F*ck.

McGuinn – There was nothing you could've done, chief.

Stills – Yeah. Yeah.

McGuinn: Watt, you alright?

Watt: I can't feel my arm, man.

[[McGuinn gets Watt on his feet. He takes Watt's helmet off and throws it near a rusted barrel and gives his own to Watt. The footage taken from McGuinn's helmet will still be attributed to him.]]

Watt: Thanks man.

[[He picks up his rifle and starts to shoot again. By this point, at least 200 Grimm have been killed.]]

McGuinn - Should we go back in? I'm running low.

Stills – Yeah. This is way beyond FUBAR.

[[Watt starts to stumble back to the lift, Stills falls off the ladder and his rifle discharges in his ribs.]]

McGuinn: Hey, wait man!

[[He runs back to Stills and props him up and tries to get to the lift. The lift comes up and Watt gets in. The gate at the far end of the complex gives way and Grimm start pouring in.]]

McGuinn: Get down Watt! Go! For f*cks' sake, go!

[[Watt reluctantly complies and the lift doors shut as McGuinn and Stills are just about to be stampeded. Watt sits down in the corner and says nothing during the ride down. The doors open silently. Static blares from the TV in the rec room. He wonders over to the bathroom and sits down on a broken wooden chair. He takes McGuinn's helmet off and points it at himself.]]

Watt: My name is Corporal Steven Watt. Then again, you probably already know that. About 20 minutes ago, we experienced a catastrophic breach. I… don't know what caused it, all I know is that there's a lot, and we got f*cked up. Bad. As far, as I know, I'm the last survivor. Taggart got impaled on a piece of rebar, Connelly killed himself to save our asses and Mike and Andy got crushed by a herd. Hmph. 'And I alone escaped to tell thee.' Except for that Flansburgh guy. He'll be alright. Yeah.

[[Roars are heard from the surface. Watt becomes noticeably more fidgety.]]

I don't know what to do. I'm stuck down here. Can't watch TV that's for sure. Suppose I could just leave the gas stove on and just fall asleep. No, no, I don't wanna die. Not yet.

[[He looks to his left, to the stall. He puts the helmet down and walks to the stall with the broken light and opens it.]]

Watt: Taggart, you glorious b*stard.

[[He walks back to the helmet and picks it back up.]]

Watt: Alright, so Taggart would always go into the toilets when he got bored. Of course, we just assumed he did the obvious, but the b*stard busted the wall behind the toilet and well, it leads to a train tunnel. Heard about these, they got abandoned a while back. This does explain the massive amounts of alcohol he drank now. He went on beer runs. I'm, uh, gonna try and get out this way.

[[He walks out of frame for two minutes and when he comes back in, he's not wearing his combat gear, wearing the old casual wear, white v neck tee, black pants and black formal shoes.]]

Watt: Ditched the rifle. Shouldn't need it.

If I'm not seen again, tell my family my best.

[[He starts to exit out the stall when a loud roar and an explosion is heard.]]

Watt: Yeah, I'm getting the rifle.

[[He does that and puts the helmet on the chair. He gives the cam a thumbs up and walks off. Nothing else happens on the tape, and it the tape runs out after half an hour.]]

Aftermath:

As is known, Vale eventually fell, and became a no man's land. It is thought that due to the 78th Division's efforts, it helped to evacuate more civilians from Vale, however small. A squad was send to check what happened at Moonshine Ridge two days after Vale was evacuated. They found Michael McGuinn barely alive, with a missing leg and massive internal bleeding. After the medic came to treat him, he simply said 'what took you so f*cking long?' and fell unconscious. He never woke up. He was awarded the medal for valour and was buried in his hometown in Vacuo.

Anthony Stills had presumably passed away not long after he got crushed. He was found with a bullet wound to the temple, not self inflicted. He was buried at sea.

Nicholas Connelly and Jackson Taggart's bodies were never found, neither were their footage. The explosion probably vaporised the bodies beyond all recognition. Connelly's jaw bone was located ten years, lodged in the ridge.

Steven Watt was found a week after he walked out of the bunker, wandering in the train tunnels he escaped in. A regiment assigned to search for bodies found him, missing his right ring finger and a gash across his chest. He didn't reply to their commands and was staring blankly into the distance. He was dragging a rifle commonly used by the White Fang. He never spoke about what happened during that week. He was promoted to Lieutenant and was honourably discharged on mental health grounds six months later. He wrote a book on the failings of the Atlesian army to supply it's soldiers with the proper equipment to fend off a huge Grimm attack. He was found dead in his garage five years after the siege from carbon monoxide poisoning.

As stated before, John Flansburgh survived the siege by not being there. His debriefing statement was used in some parts of this document, although the reliability of his debriefing is debated, as he was on morphine at the time. He was promoted to Sargent Major and has had a successful career. He is currently stationed in Southern Mistral in charge of an outpost. He is understandably is reluctant to talk about his experiences.

[[End of document.]]

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